Versatile: Alternate World

It might look like some sort of portal but it seems like it is some sort of one-way portal as anything that passes through it, does not lead anywhere as it didn't reach what world is beyond the portal. I tried throwing a pebble when I saw it but the portal seems to be nonexistent since the pebble just passed through it.

"What the heck is this? I thought it was some sort of a portal but it doesn't do anything. I don't want to risk my body either since, unlike the game where I can regenerate my lost limb, in the real world, I will lose it permanently. Even if it is proven that it doesn't have any portal traits, doesn't mean it doesn't have one."

Being cautious is not a bad thing and it always proves to save me countless times. So if my instincts kick in like this, I would rather follow my instincts rather than follow my curiosity.

Now, this is something that I have not seen before. In the past timeline, something like this did not occur in the real world. Magic is one thing but similar mechanics in the game like monster spawning and portals shouldn't have existed in the real world. So what the heck is this thing?

I can't ask someone to help me on this matter. Not only they have not developed the ability to use magic, but they also have no idea things like this exist either. I know things like this should be discussed with someone but I am not capable of exposing everyone to this. And if I report this to the authorities, they would just treat me like a person who escaped the mental hospital and I would rather avoid that.

But it was clear that the cold air around here is coming from this thing. I can sense the mana going haywire around this place and if I try to use any sort of mana-related action here, it is clearly going to add more to the trouble.

One thing that I noticed is that this place is warmer compared to the surrounding area. The outside is freezing and ice is forming but the wall adjacent to the portal thingie seems to lack the ice crystallization you will see when it starts to freeze up.

Because this thing was unknown to me and there was no one who can tell me what the heck this thing is, I have to use my own observation skills and rack up my brain on what to do with this. If my assumption is correct, this little portal seems to have some correlation to what the world is experiencing right now. And since this was happening all around the world, this must be not exclusive to this place alone and it might exist in other areas too.

I circled around it. At first glance, it looks like it was some sort of graffiti if you saw it from afar with a wall behind it, making it quite inconspicuous in people's eyes. However, you will soon realize it wasn't even one since, in the first place, it wasn't attached to any walls, it is hovering in the air and there is no graffiti that moves like a wobbly jelly every now and then unless we are talking about 3d animation hologram thing but that shouldn't be the case here.

The portal is in oval shape though it has some wobbly edges that seem to move every now and then. It might look big if you look at its front and back but if you look at its side, it is very thin that you won't see it unless you get very close to it.

After observing for a bit, I moved away from it and gather my thoughts about it. Other than releasing the cold wind that seems to affect the weather greatly, there seems to be nothing more to it. Sure, the mana seems to be reacting strongly to it but I don't think it is even that big of a mana disturbance. More like it is some sort of a crack in thin air and just manifested like this...

Wait... A crack?

When I realized this, I put my guard up. After my encounter with Crack in the World in Alternate World, I have a bad feeling about it. Since my instincts are kicking in earlier after I discovered and approached it, I am going to assume that it acts the same way as the Crack in the World in the game as well?

I waited for a bit to see any changes from it. But nothing happened except for its regular thing. I don't see anything that is giving risks here. Am I getting paranoid from encountering the Crack in the World in the game? Or I am just too deep reading those novels with the invasion of monsters via cracks forming from another world? Maybe I am just too paranoid without knowing it.

But even if there are no monsters coming out from this, that doesn't mean it is okay to just leave this hole alone. Not only does it changes the weather, but it also affects the whole world too. There is only one way that is needed to do to stop that from getting worse and that is to close this portal.

The only question is how to close this one up.

Perhaps I can try some methods of closing this. Without anyone around me or enemies spawning to annoy me on what I am doing, I can try doing some things to potentially find a way to close it. I looked around my surroundings and made sure no one is around just to make sure. After making sure that no one can see the spectacle I am about to do, I remove the gloves and snap my fingers, igniting my fingertips and giving them some flare to light up. On the other hand, I activated the voltage on my palm, releasing a voltage capable of electrocuting anyone who dares to get close.

I know I said earlier that using mana-related activities near it would give serious trouble but I have no choice but to do that.

The first thing I have to try is to attack it with my magic spells. If it is made of magic fight it with magic. I may not know what I am doing but I will do my best to do it.

"Let's try giving a palm-sized fireball and see how it goes then."

Forming the fireball is easier now compared to when I am just starting out, now, let's try throwing it and see if the portal reacts.

FWOOM!

The moment I throw the fireball, the flames of the fireball suddenly got too hot and it was like it ignited to its maximum before making contact with the portal. Once the two collided, it suddenly exploded and I have to back away to avoid getting caught in it.

"What the f*ck? I am quite sure I didn't put that much power into it. How the f*ck did that explode to that extent?!"

I almost freaked out. After all, I was expecting it to be a small-scale explosion that is contained within here so the explosion was something else that I didn't expect. But despite the explosion being too big, the sound was muffled to some extent. I was just shocked because of how big it was when it exploded but I was also relieved that it didn't cause too much ruckus from the explosion. One thing I didn't want to happen is attracting unwanted onlookers.

But what heck happened? That was a strong explosion upon contact. Knowing how fireballs work in real life, I know that a small fireball is not enough to cause an explosion that much. The scale of the explosion of the fireball that I have thrown should be on par with a small firecracker while the explosion that occurred just now is the same explosion when a grenade's pin was pulled and thrown and I am quite sure of it, no shadow of a doubt.

My eyes darted from side to side again to see if it gained attention and waited for a bit to see whether it will cause another trouble but thankfully, it didn't happen and I sighed in relief. The next thing I needed to do is to check out what happened to the portal.

With the explosion earlier, the portal has changed drastically. Compared to its oval shape form before the fireball exploded to its surface, the current shape of the portal now is irregular now. It doesn't have a fixed shape now, more like some sort of water color mixed with another color on the water without being stirred by anything. The movement it usually does from time to time seems to be also getting more frequent than before too.

One thing is for sure, despite it showing no signs of disappearing, it shows signs of change. Perhaps I am walking the right path here now, right?